The Detroit Pistons may be building for the future, but they still need productive veterans, partly to guide their young players the way to success in the NBA.
One of the few reliable veterans they had this season was Alec Burks, a 6-foot-6-inch guard who has spent a dozen seasons in the league.
It looks like he will be in Detroit for next season, as the team has picked up a team option on his contract for the 2023-24 campaign.
The Detroit Pistons plan to pick up Alec Burke’s $10.5 million option for 2023-2024, sources told ESPN. Last season, Burks averaged 12.8 points and 3.1 rebounds.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) 28 June 2023
Burks provided the dying Pistons with some accurate 3-point shooting, as he hit 41.4 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc this year.
Detroit originally acquired him in a trade with the New York Knicks last summer.
Despite finishing with the NBA’s worst record, the Pistons had the misfortune of only getting the No. 5 pick in last week’s draft, and they used that to select 6-foot-7-inch Auser Thompson, who had the potential to become Is. Very effective and versatile protector.
They are also hoping that Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, starts to emerge and really tap into his potential.
In his two seasons so far, he has averaged 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, but he has shot only 41.6 percent overall and 30.9 percent from 3-point range.
It looks like the one real trade the Pistons have to improve is specialty sharpshooting forward Bojan Bogdanovic, who averaged a career-high 21.6 points a game this season and has been mentioned in several trade rumors.
He has two seasons left on his contract and could represent a significant upgrade for the potential title contender.
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Young Pistons Star Offers Hope For The Future